Dutch Wonderland-The kingdom for kids?

My name is Theresa Young and I have been a Dutch Wonderland Mom since 2008. My family has been season pass holders at Dutch Wonderland since 2008. Dutch Wonderland and the people that work there have a special place in our hearts. When we started going to the park it was after the death of my grandmother. My daughter who was then 3 years old was having a hard time and Dutch Wonderland helped her remember she was a kid and deserved to have fun despite the sad time we were going through. We became fast friends with the staff and my daughter Bridget became a Dutch Wonderland expert. The last year was not as impressive as prior years so we were excited to hear that a new company was taking over. Hershey sold Dutch Wonderland to a bigger corporation, Paradise Entertainment. You might recognize the name, they are the owners of Kennywood and Idlewild Parks. Although sad to hear the news of many of the entertainment staff being fired so underhanded we were curious about how RWS would do with the whole entertainment staffing. So we were first in line for the season opening day.

Last year we saw the “royal treatment” the First Family got that day. My daughter was determined to be First Family this year so we were there at 8am. It was so sad to see her face when nothing was done for us. She asked why the family last year was given a special day for being there first but we didn’t even get a smile. She is only 6 but very insightful. It was true. If we knew there was no special thing for First Family this year we would have gone with our original plans to meet a friend first then come to the park.

We were also disappointed that the characters were outside in the parking lot again this year. The park says it’s because they want the flow of visitors to get in the park without the distractions of characters. It took us until 2pm to see Duke the Dragon walking around. Before the gates open we usually hear a countdown for the park to open but this year we heard a faint sound but had no idea what it was until someone started counting down in the crowd. Disappointing start!

This year there is a new stone walkway as soon as you enter the park that covers the ground in front of the Dutch Wonderland Express train ride. I hear that there are plans to make this walkway throughout the park. Boy, I hope not. This is a bad idea! The strollers didn’t seem to do too good on the payment and I know for a fact it isn’t handicap accessible. My mother walks with a rolling walker which kept getting stuck. Also both my mother and daughter tripped on loose bricks. I was told later on that it wasn’t even finished. They needed to fill between the bricks but ran out of time since they didn’t start this project until the week before opening day. If kids are running on the path they will trip and fall on the uneven bricks. The pathway wasn’t done well and it isn’t a great idea. It might look nice but who cares. We are there for the rides and entertainment.

Once in the park our first ride was the train. My daughter actually had a tear in her eye when she realized that the Ticket Man statue wasn’t there. We read the letterboxing clues online which tells you to give the ticket man a high five so we thought he was still okay. These little spots in the park is what my daughter looks forward to the most: the old man by the mill, the chicken by the chicks, the men on top of the antique cars(which is not there anymore), and of course the saddest of all the elf puppets by the monorail entrance that are no longer there this year. It’s a shame to see them leave.

While waiting for the train to start my daughter noticed a baby bottle on the train tracks that was there since last year. GROSS! Very nasty. Why wasn’t the park cleaned before opening? There was old bird poo on the benches everywhere and the birthday cake house had large cobwebs and dirt all over it and in it. It didn’t surprise me when we sat on a bench for around 20 minutes (the only one without bird poo) and watched as cleaning staff and even managers walked over and around a old rumpled up map on the ground. In fact there was a older cleaning employee who had to hold his pants up the whole time so they wouldn’t fall down. All the uniforms were tight and unkept. I thought it was strange since it was the first day of operations. The low wasted pants on most of the girls were a little too low and didn’t leave much to the imagination when they bent over. Also I know of other guest that leaned on railings to get a picture and got grease all over them. Such a shock since the park is always so neat and well maintained.

The next ride we were on was the Space Shuttle. Here the employee started the ride while both the enter and exit gate was open. So dangerous and against regulations. She couldn’t take her foot off the pedal to stop the ride and close the gates so they stayed open. When we informed her of the mistake she said “oh well“. The next ride you would think she would fix the mistake, she didn’t. I know there is a new staff but safety is number one in my book and should always be stressed to the employees.

After going on a few more rides I took notice a sign by the Turtle Whirl for Boyd’s Bear Factory. The place went out of business in January! I would hate to get all excited about going to a new place we saw on a sign at Dutch Wonderland then getting there only to find it is no longer in operation. You would think they would be on top of this.

The rides were tons of fun as usual but the Joust Coaster was broken for a while and once they got that one fixed the Kingdom Coaster went down. While walking around we noticed that not one ride operator was smiling. Come to think of it no one in the games, food or gift stands were smiling too. The staff was not kid friendly and they were not happy. It brought the whole mood of the park down. We waited for the monorail ,that just took off before we got there, in complete silence. The girl was leaning her head on the wall looking in the sky. A simple “How’s your day going?” or “Are you having fun today?” would have been nice.

Now Princess Brooke, Dutch Wonderland’s mascot, was super sweet but it seemed as if her wig was eating her. She is a tiny girl to begin with but that wig is so ridiculous. Her brown hair was poking out of the wig all day. Why was she wearing a wig anyway? It never used to matter what the princess’ hair looked like but I know other “princess’” that have dyed their hair for the part. The wig needs to go. If my daughter can spot it a mile away then it isn’t a good look.

I mentioned earlier that Duke the Dragon wasn’t spotted until 2pm. What I thought was a important thing to mention was the attitude of the character. Duke is usually really goofy and fun loving. No matter who plays him there is always the sense of love from the dragon for each and every child. While waiting for a show to start we spotted Duke walking away from a crowd he had just taken pictures with when a small child came to give him a hug. The child was in the path of Duke’s walking but he didn’t stop for the child. Instead he push the kid on his forehead away and kept walking. The second and only other time seeing him was when he was walking into the staff room and there was a child following him calling out “DUKE“. He didn’t stop even when the child started to cry. The mother tried to get someone out there for her daughter since they had to leave but no one would help. It never was like that with the old entertainment staff. Someone would have come out for the child. Disappointing.

The special guest for the opening this year was horrible. He was rude and insulting. He wasn’t even good on the stilts. It was disappointing since last year was Manny from Electric Company and all the other years were not huge celebrities but still bigger acts then that guy. While talking of special guest, my daughter is upset she is there is NO Christian weekend this year. She looks forward to seeing Bob and Larry from Veggie Tales and of course the Doughnut Man. It’s so sad such a wholesome day out is gone. I am with my daughter on this one. Plus this past Mother’s Day my daughter was excited to take me to Dutch Wonderland. Last year they had the Lancaster School of Cosmetology come out to do free chair massages and mini manicures for all moms. They also had Hershey Gardens there to help the kids plant a marigold for mom and the Dutch Wonderland employees helped the kids make a foam craft picture frame. We also got my child’s ID cards done by Baltimore Life. This year I called to see if there will be the same treatment for us moms and they had nothing planned. We can’t afford much so my daughter was so happy that she could take me there to at least do these activities for me but we decided not to even go.

We were missing the Bunny Fudge House this year too. Mr. Don, the man in charge of the bunny house and nuts and candy cart inside the gates, was very friendly and always there for a guest. It’s a shame he’s not there anymore. On top of it they are taking away other local business. The hot dogs are Nathan’s now and the ice cream is now Breyers, which is a PA based brand but Turkey Hill is right down the road in Columbia and has been a long time sponsor of Dutch Wonderland. It seems that any local business that was represented there is gone. We have so many wonderful local businesses here in PA that could be featured in the park. Plus by helping local businesses they could also be helping the environment. The less the trucks have to travel to the park the less pollution it will be. They could actually be a greener park and that attracts a lot of people now a days.

Once more I know any amusement park makes all your money off gift shop and food items but the prices were crazy for the food that was served. We usually go to the Treehouse which is now the potato place. Three chicken tenders that is smaller then the palm of my hand and a few fries for ten dollars? I don’t mind paying a lot for food, you expect it at a amusement park, but I want some food for that price. Plus we missed the chicken fries/sticks that were there last year. It seems that Dutch Wonderland has forgot this is a kid place and they need finger food.

Now we hear that Dutch Wonderland will be charging for preferred parking in the future. My mother is unable to walk well and we get to the park early in the morning to get a spot close to the castle door. We don’t have a handicap parking pass due to not having health insurance so we are unable to use the handicap parking. If we need to start paying for a parking spot this will hinder our visits. It is so sad that this park went from a family affordable amusement park to a money hungry attraction.

Now saying all this there are some great points to the park this year. RWS has outdone themselves with the performers this year. Beyond the castle walls was great. They both are not only great singers and dancer they are also friendly and kid oriented. They spoke to my child and engaged her in conversation. They waved as they passed by while traveling from show to show. This is the little things that make a difference and I can’t tell you how much we enjoyed them. The only thing that might be needed was additional staff to hold back the kids from coming on stage while they are dancing. I thought a kid was going to get knocked out by a jazz kick during one of the numbers. To also add there is a new show this year but it doesn’t start until Memorial Day weekend. The name of the show is Dress Up And Dance and it will be performed at the amphitheater.
Also the dive show did not fail once again. It seems like they get better from year to year. It’s never the same show even when it is the same show. They add one or two things different and it helps mix things up. The RWS announcer with the show was not as friendly as former entertainment staff but he had a great voice for announcing. He reminded me of a bouncer at a night club standing there with his arms folded scowling at the crowd.

We also do like the new rides. The frog was a hit with my daughter. You sit in the frog which takes you up in the air and “hops” while moving in a circle. It also makes cool ribbit sounds which my kid loved to do as well. Don’t worry parents, this ride is adult friendly too so you can get into the action. The kite flyer was neat but I think it is for older kids. My daughter, who is 6 years old, might need to get used to it. It wasn’t very mom friendly as well. You have to lay on your belly until the girl closes a gate-like contraption over you. Then the ride flies up into the air. I’m just saying being a big chested woman myself it was a very uncomfortable ride. Let’s not even mention that the employee took her sweet old time closing the harness so you are laying on your belly with your butt in the air the whole time while on lookers are surly snickering at you. If you do go on this ride let your child know before hand that they need to wait for you to help get off the seat. I saw multiple children fall off the seat which is pretty high off the ground.

Although a disappointing first time visit we do have season passes and will be back this year. My daughter was bored and wanted to leave a hour and a half before the park closed. We went to a free playground where she stayed for three hours and didn’t want to leave. That should say something. I could have saved a ton of money. We contacted the park on all the so called improvements. They did offer our money back or season passes to Hershey Park. It seemed that they just didn’t want me to complain to others about the park and wanted to pawn me off on Hershey. Either which way I would never be able to take away Dutch Wonderland from my child. She is outgrowing the kiddie rides this year it seems, so this might be our last year anyway. We will always have a special place in our hearts for Dutch Wonderland no matter what others do to it but I would not recommend the park to anyone that has been there before. If you are a new visitor that has never been to the park you would not notice the difference as much and might enjoy yourselves. It is a smaller park that is geared for smaller children. It helped us out with summer activities when we were new to the area and wanted some much needed fun. The rides are fun and the water park that opens Memorial Day weekend is not overly large so you can keep your eyes on your little tikes easier. There are picnic areas outside the park so you can beat the high priced food problem with a simple picnic. Not to mention that Dutch Wonderland is just one attraction in Lancaster County. There is Strasburg Railroad, The National Christmas Museum, Sight & Sound Theater, and many Amish attractions and buggy rides. This is a great place to visit!

No matter if you decide to go to the park or not, don’t forget…have a Dutch Wonderful Day!